Welcome! Meet:

Eric + Shanna

Educational Leadership / Educator

Ohio

Caucasian

Christian

All About Eric & Shanna
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Eric & Shanna

We are Shanna and Eric, and we are deeply grateful you are taking the time to get to know us and our family more by looking at and reading through our profile. We admire your bravery and courage and can’t imagine how difficult this decision is for you. We are sincerely honored that you would consider us as adoptive parents for your precious baby. We would support and embrace any level of openness you would want to have with us and your child. We know you will make the best, most loving decision, no matter what that decision looks like.

Why Adoption?

A few years ago, as we discussed starting a family, we both felt a natural pull, individually, to become parents through adoption. We have so much love and life to share and sincerely hope we have that opportunity. Our goal is to provide a welcoming home in which your child will always be loved and supported, to help them become the best version of themselves, and to be the best parents we can be.

Family & Home

We live in a three-bedroom home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Rootstown, Ohio. We care deeply about our home, as it is our oasis. We have lovingly renovated every room to be a beautiful, warm, and functional place. Our home includes a kitchen that opens up to the living room - the heart of most activity and time spent together playing games, watching movies, reading, and studying, a dining room where we gather to share meals and have conversations about our days and lives, a beautiful, sunny four season room where we love to spend weekend mornings eating breakfast, drinking tea and coffee, and dreaming about our future plans, and a library/music loft where our family has the freedom to be creative, playful, or relax quietly while reading, studying, or taking time for oneself. Our neighborhood is extremely child-friendly. In fact, nearly every afternoon and weekend, one can see and hear children playing all over the neighborhood with one another! We have surrounded our home with flowers and plants and maintain a yard that is perfect for playing, exploring nature, and relaxing.

How others describe me

About Shanna from Eric:

Shanna is the most incredible person and will make an extraordinary mom. She loves with every fiber of her being. Every person who is in Shanna’s circle has a fuller, more adventurous life because of it. Shanna organizes our life together, ensuring that we are always chasing our dreams and building unforgettable memories together. She is loyal and generous and will run through any obstacle to help someone she loves. Shanna’s students absolutely love her because of her incredible ability to make them feel fully loved and supported while inspiring them to achieve beyond what they could imagine for themselves. She is a justice-seeker and continues to find ways to care for and support those who are disadvantaged. She is a believer, championing and supporting her friends and family as they chase their dreams and become the best versions of themselves. On top of all of these incredible traits, Shanna is flat out hilarious and fills our lives with much needed laughter! I love her so much and couldn’t be prouder to be her husband. I am so excited to see Shanna pour all of this love, passion, and support into being a mom as we expand our family.

About Eric from Shanna:

I often refer to Eric as the “most valuable player” of our life together! He is hardworking, selfless, and has a servant’s heart, often doing the work others would rather not do or chipping in to help others in order to make their burdens lighter. He is fun-loving, positive, laid back, and calm, and people love being around him because his personality is contagious. Our nieces and nephews adore him and even refer to him as “Fun-cle Eric.” He is intelligent and creative, as he is talented at finding solutions to problems, both large and small, and will work endlessly until he solves them. He is good at almost everything he tries his hand at! As an educator, Eric inspires his students, and they are drawn to him due to his love of learning, compassionate heart, listening ear, patience, and encouragement. He easily understands and forgives the mistakes of others as well. Eric is meant to be a dad, and I know as we expand our family, he will be a wonderful one.

How We Met

We met in college at Kent State University and fell in love over our shared love of music and desire for adventure nearly 20 years ago. After four years of being each other’s best friends, we got married and began to build our life together around our two passions, education and music. We began working at our respective schools as teachers and poured ourselves into impacting students, equipping them with the knowledge they needed and empowering them to chase their dreams. At the same time, we started an indie rock band that we grew from playing local coffee shops to touring regionally and nationally for many years. To this day, we are even more in love, still drawn together by our shared faith, passion for creating and performing music, and a sincere desire to impact the world around us in positive ways. Outside of these passions, we have a love of travel and adventure. Some of our favorite adventures have been exploring National Parks out West and visiting overseas to places like Greece and Switzerland. We enjoy hiking, playing games, putting puzzles together, and attending local events and places, such as festivals, art museums, craft fairs, zoos, etc., to support our local communities. We find joy in small things and share a lot of laughs and life together, and we would love the opportunity to share our passions, life experiences, and little moments with our future child while helping them to cultivate their own passions and talents as well.

Advice to Future Child

We cannot wait to meet you! We promise that you will grow up in a home filled with joy, music, and adventure, where you are supported to explore your dreams and become your truest self. We will nurture your strengths, celebrate your uniqueness, and raise you to be kind, independent, and compassionate. You will always know about the love and selflessness behind your birth mom’s decision, and she will always be honored in our family.

Our advice to you is simple. Be yourself. We want you to explore and experience new things to find out who you were created to be and fully embrace yourself. We want you to invest in your passions and work towards your goals to have a maximum impact on the world. But, more than anything, we want you to love yourself and love others.

We promise to give you a safe, happy home full of laughter, learning, and unconditional love where discovering who you are and growing in your passions is truly possible. We will cherish, guide, and love you with everything we have, providing a strong foundation to help you grow and thrive.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We commit to respecting whatever level of openness the birth mom desires, ensuring that her connection with your child is valued and preserved in a way that feels right to her.

Favorites

Eric

Favorite Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: We go ALL OUT when celebrating birthdays!
Hobbies/Interests: writing and creating music, running, and Cleveland sports
Dream Vacation: St. Petersburg to see the Winter Palace
If I Could Choose a Superpower: Flying!

Shanna

Favorite Movie: Pride & Prejudice
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: We go ALL OUT when celebrating birthdays!
Hobbies/Interests: singing/performing, traveling to new places, interior design, reading British and mystery novels, and hiking
Dream Vacation: Germany to see the Neuschwanstein Castle, which inspired the Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella castles.
If I Could Choose a Superpower: Teleportation, so I can travel the world without the long flights. :)